A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
- -aholic, -oholic and -holic
- Air vs heir
- Antlers vs horns
- Appetizer or hors d'oeuvre
- Be patient or have patience
- Below the belt and hit below the belt
- Bitter pill to swallow and hard pill to swallow
- Car hood and car bonnet
- Carnivore, herbivore or omnivore
- Civil rights and human rights
- Decathlon, heptathlon, pentathlon, triathlon and biathlon
- Faint of heart
- Fireplace vs hearth
- Get one's ducks in a row and have one's ducks in a row
- Habeas corpus= the right of a detained individual to be brought before a court or judge to determine whether the imprisonment is legal and justified.
- Habit vs habitat
- Hail Mary play or Hail Mary pass
- Hail vs. haleHail = (1) precipitation in the form of spherical ice pellets; (2) to salute or greet; (3) to call out in order to catch attention; (4) to come or originate from. Hale = free from infirmity or illness.
- Hair of the dog
- Hair vs hare
- Hair's breadth (hare's breath)Hair's breadth = a short distance. Hare's breath = the inhalations and exhalations of a rabbit-like nonburrowing mammal.
- Hairbrained vs. harebrainedHarebrained is the conventional spelling.
- Hairy vs. harry
- Halcyon
- Half a loaf is better than none and half a loaf is better than no bread
- Half-baked
- Half-mast vs. half-staffHalf-mast = (of a flag) flown halfway up the mast as a signal of mourning or distress. Half-staff = flown halfway up the flagpole as a symbol of mourning.
- Halfhearted and half-hearted
- Halitosis
- Hall vs haul
- Hallow vs. hollowHallow: to make holy or honor greatly. Hollow: empty inside.
- Halloween or Hallowe'en
- Halve= (1) to divide into two equal portions or parts, or (2) to lessen or reduce by half.
- Halve vs have
- Ham it up
- Ham-fisted and ham-handed
- Hand over fist
- Hand to mouth
- Hand-me-down
- Hand-wash
- Handful, handfulsThe plural is handfuls.
- Handicap vs. handicappedHandicap is a noun and a verb. The adjective is handicapped.
- Handle with kid gloves
- Hands down= (1) winning with ease or with little or no effort, and (2) without a doubt.
- Hands on or hands-on
- Hang on like grim death and hang on for grim death
- Hang out to dry
- Hangar vs. hangerA hanger is (1) one who hangs something, or (2) an item used to hang things. A hangar is a shelter used for housing and maintaining aircraft.
- Hangdog
- Hanged vs. hungHung is the past tense and past participle everywhere except where hang means to put to death by hanging.
- Hangry
- Hanker vs hunker
- Hanky-panky
- Hanukkah or Chanukah
- HappenstanceHappenstance = chance influenced by circumstance.
- Happy camper
- Happy median or happy medium
- Hara-kiri= suicide by disembowelment with a sword.
- Harbinger
- Harbor vs. harbourHarbor in the U.S.; harbour everywhere else.
- Hardy vs. heartyHardy = strong, bold, or capable of prevailing through tough conditions. Hearty = (1) expressed warmly, (2) providing abundant nourishment, and (3) unequivocal.
- Hare vs. rabbitThey are different groups of animals in the same family.
- Hark, harken, and hearken
- Harridan and harpy
- Hart vs heart
- Has seen better days
- Hash out, thrash outBoth mean to have a discussion, especially one meant to arrive at a deal or a resolution.
- Hashtag
- Haste makes waste
- Hat trick
- Hate-watch
- Hatemonger and hate-mongering
- Hats off to
- Haughty vs hottie
- Have a bee in one's bonnet
- Have a beef
- Have a cow and have kittens
- Have a field day
- Have a ringside seat
- Have a short fuse
- Have a target on one's back
- Have a tiger by the tail
- Have one's ears pinned back vs pin one's ears back
- Have one's work cut out
- Have someone buffaloed
- Have someone's number and I've got your number
- Have the last laugh
- Have your cake and eat it too
- Hawk vs. hockHawk = (1) to sell goods, especially noisily or aggressively on the street, and (2) to clear the throat of phlegm. Hock = to pawn.
- Hay vs hey
- Hay vs straw
- Haymaker
- He who hesitates is lost
- He'd vs heed
- Head on the chopping block and on the chopping block
- Head over heels
- Head someone off at the pass and cut someone off at the pass
- Heads or tails and can't make heads or tails
- Heads up
- Heads will roll
- Headwind
- Heal vs. heel (and bring to heel)Heal: to become healthy. Heel: the lower rear part of the foot.
- Healthcare vs. health careHealthcare in the U.K. and increasingly in North America; but still usually health care in North America.
- Healthful vs. healthyHealthful = promoting good health. Healthy = (1) in good health; (2) promoting good health.
- Hear, hear vs. here, hereHear, hear is the original and more conventional spelling.
- Heard vs herd
- Heartthrob
- Heavens to Murgatroyd
- Heebie-jeebies
- Heel, heal and he'll
- HeighthIt's considered incorrect, but it's not the abomination many people seem to think it is.
- Helicopter parent and lawnmower parent
- Hell for leather and hell-bent
- Helpless vs hapless
- Helter skelter or helter-skelter
- Hem and haw or hum and haw
- Hence= (1) for this reason, (2) from this source, (3) from now, (4) from that time, and (5) from this place.
- Henpeck
- Herbivorous vs herbaceous
- Heretofore or hitherto
- Heroin vs. heroineHeroine = an addictive narcotic derived from morphine. Heroine = a female protagonist of a fictional story. Real-life female heros are usually just called heros.
- Heterogeneous vs. heterogenousHeterogeneous: consisting of dissimilar elements. Heterogenous: 1. not originating within the body; 2. of foreign origin; 3. heterogeneous.
- Heterometric: (in poetry) consisting of lines of varying lengths.
- Hew vs. hueHew: 1. to make or shape with or as with an ax; 2. to adhere or conform strictly [to something]. Hue: 1. color; 2. the property of colors by which they can be perceived as within a range between primary colors; 3. appearance, aspect.
- Heyday
- Hi vs high
- Hie: to hasten, speed, or go in haste. It is an archaism.
- Hieratic
- Hieroglyph vs hierograph
- High five
- High on the hog
- Higher vs hire
- Highfalutin: pompous or pretentious.
- Hightail
- Hijinks or high jinks
- Himself vs hisself
- Hindsight is 20/20 and 20/20 hindsight
- Hinky
- Hippocratic vs hypocritical
- Hippogriff or griffin
- Hippopotami, hippopotamuses, hipposThe Latin plural is favored in scientific texts. The English plural is favored in general usage.
- Historic vs. historicalHistoric: 1. momentous; 2. historically significant. Historical: 1. of or relating to history; 2. of or relating to the past.
- Histrionic, histrionicsHistrionic: overdramatic. Histrionics: overdramatic behavior.
- Hit it off
- Hit pay dirt
- Hit the bricks
- Hit the deck
- Hit the ground running
- Hit the hay and hit the sack
- Hive mind
- Hoar vs whore
- Hoard vs. hordeHorde: a large crowd or mob. Hoard: (1) a store or cache; (2) to accumulate a store or cache.
- Hoarse vs horse
- Hoax
- Hobo, tramp, bum, or gutter punk
- Hobson's choice
- Hocus-pocus
- Hodgepodge vs hotchpotch
- Hoi polloi
- Hokey-pokey, hokey-cokey and hokey-tokey
- Hold all the cards and hold all the aces
- Hold at bay and keep at bay
- Hold my beer
- Hold someone's feet to the fire
- Hold swayto have power and influence (usually over something).
- Hold the fort and hold down the fort
- Hold your horses
- Holey vs. holyHoley: full of holes. Holy: 1. sacred, or associated with a deity; 2. worthy of worship; 3. saintly; 4. deserving reverence.
- Holier-than-thou
- Holly vs holy
- Holy vs wholly
- Home in vs horn in
- Home in vs. hone inHome in is the more common and more logical form, but hone in is generally accepted in North America.
- Home school vs. homeschool (vs. home-school)The unhyphenated compound will someday prevail, but for now less risky writers are stuck with the two-word form, which is usually hyphenated as a verb.
- Homely vs. homeyHomey: feeling like home. Homely means the same in British English, but in American English it means plain, simple, or unattractive.
- Homily vs sermon
- Homo sapiens It is a singular noun.
- Homogenous vs. homogeneousHomogeneous: (1) of the same or similar nature, and (2) uniform in structure or composition. Homogenous: a scientific word now very often used in place of homogeneous in popular usage.
- Homonym
- Homophones, homographs, and homonyms
- Honcho
- Honesty is the best policy
- Honeymoon
- Honor among thieves and no honor among thieves
- Honor vs. honourHonor in the U.S.; honour everywhere else.
- Hoodwink
- Hoopla
- Hoosegow: slang for prison.
- Hootenanny
- Hoover vs. vacuumVacuum in North America; hoover everywhere else.
- Hooves or hoofs
- Hop, skip, and a jump
- Hope or hopes
- Horn of plenty and cornucopia
- Horsey, horsy, horsieHorsey is the usual spelling for all senses of the word.
- Horticulturist vs arborist
- Hosanna: an expression of fervent or worshipful praise.
- Hot button
- Hot mess
- Hot potato
- Hot spot or hotspot
- Houndstooth
- Hour vs our
- House of cards
- How's it going
- Hubris
- Hue and cry
- Hullabaloo: a commotion, a clamorous confusion, or an uproar.
- Human vs humane
- Humblebrag
- Humdinger
- Humongous: extraordinarily large.
- Humor vs. humourHumor in the U.S.; humour everywhere else.
- HumorousnessIt often bears replacement with humor, but it can be useful when talking about humor in abstracted terms.
- Hump day
- Humus vs. hummusHummus: a creamy, chickpea-based dip. Humus: fully decomposed organic matter used in gardening.
- Hunker down
- Hunt-and-peck
- Hunter-gatherer: a member of a group of people who survive by hunting animals and foraging.
- Hurdle vs. hurtleHurtle: (1) to move with great speed; (2) to fling with great force. Hurdle: (1) to leap over something or to overcome an obstacle; (2) an obstacle.
- Hurrah, hooray, hurrayHurrah is the most common form, but hooray is common as an interjection.
- Hurricane, typhoon and cyclone
- Hush money
- Hush puppy, hushpuppy or hush-puppy
- Hustle and side hustle
- Hybrid vs highbred
- Hygge
- Hymn vs him
- Hyper- vs hypo-
- Hyperbole
- Hyphen
- Hyphen, en dash or em dash
- Iconoclast vs heretic
- In the ballpark and hit one out of the ballpark
- In the hopper
- Inhabit vs habituate
- Jack-o’-lantern and Halloween lantern
- John Hancock and John Henry
- Mad as a hatter
- Merry Christmas vs Happy Christmas
- Ombré ombre or hombre
- Pass the torch and hand on the torch
- Put on heirs or airs
- Rake over the coals and haul over the coals
- Redneck vs hick vs hillbilly
- Semi-, hemi-, and demi-
- Sisyphean, Promethean or Herculean
- Soccer mom and hockey mom
- Something has legs
- Take the high road
- The handwriting on the wall or the writing on the wall
- The hill you want to die on
- To harp on
- Wholistic and holistic